Use of ‘Do’

Using ‘do’ in English.

Although ‘do’ is used as a full verb, its use as an auxiliary is central to English structure. ‘do’is the one word which makes English structures completely regular In many basic structures the first auxiliary is very important. The first auxiliary is used:

• to make question forms
• to make negatives
• to make tags
• to add stress
• to give short answers (Yes, it is.)
• to agree (So do I)

Without ‘do’the rules for making these structures would contain many exceptions by using ‘do’, all these structures become totally regular. This depends on the most powerful rule in English grammar:

If a structure needs an auxiliary and none is present, use part of ‘do’, as a so-called “dummy auxiliary.”

Understanding how ‘do’ works is one of the keys to using English correctly.